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TheExtreme North[a] or theFar North[b] is a large part of Russia located mainly north of theArctic Circle and boasting enormousmineral andnatural resources. Its total area is about 5,500,000 square kilometres (2,100,000 sq mi), comprising about one-third of Russia's total area.[1] Formally, the regions of the Extreme North comprise the whole ofChukotka Autonomous Okrug,Kamchatka Krai,Magadan Oblast,Murmansk Oblast andSakha, as well as certain parts and cities ofArkhangelsk Oblast,Irkutsk Oblast,Khabarovsk Krai,Komi Republic,Krasnoyarsk Krai,Republic of Karelia,Sakhalin Oblast,Tuva,Tyumen Oblast, as well as all islands of theArctic Ocean, its seas, theBering Sea, and theSea of Okhotsk.
Due to the remoteness and the harsh conditions of the area, since the Soviet times people who work there have traditionally been entitled by the Russian government to higher wages and many otherbenefits,[2] including earlierretirement age,[3] than workers of other regions.[4] As a result of the climate and environment, theindigenous peoples of the area have developed certain genetic differences that allow them to better cope with the region's environment, as do their cultures.[5]
In 2012, the photoreporterJustin Jin released an award-winning photodocumentaryZone of Absolute Discomfort about gas extraction in Russian Arctic.[6]
The Far North is known for its extremely harsh climate. People who work there, other than the inmates oflabor camps that constituted theGulag system of theSoviet Union and the inmates ofcorrective labor colonies in present-day Russia, receive an extra grade of payment, referred to as the "Northern Bonus" (severnye nadbavkiRussian:северные надбавки). Additional benefits include extra vacation, extra disability benefits, extra retirement benefits (a lower retirement age), and housing benefits, in compensation for the difficult working conditions. Such compensation began under the Soviet Union and has been maintained by the Russian Federation.[7]
In January 2007, theState Duma Committee for Issues of the North and Far East approved a proposed law defining regions within the Far North that would determine the extent of compensation for workers. The regions were established based on general climate, with harsher regions garnering greater compensation relative to milder regions.[8] In this legal definition, some areas, such as some mountainous areas ofTuva, do not match the intuitive geographical definition of "Extreme North"; in fact they are among the southernmost in Russia.
